


Episode 2.13: Journey of the Iron Fist

by Starbooks13



Series: Spiders Have To Stick Together [39]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Ultimate Spider-Man (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Blending Universes, Canon Compliant, Confessions, Everyone Has Issues, Gen, Male-Female Friendship, Natasha Needs a Hug, Natasha Romanov Has Issues, Natasha Romanov Is Not A Robot, Nor Shall Age of Ultron, Plothole Fill, Protective Natasha Romanov, Season 3 Will Hopefully Not Screw Everything Up, Spiders Have To Stick Together, The author is trying to be optimistic, Thor Has Issues, Thor Is Not Stupid, Wise!Thor, despite writing a lot of angst, sort of not really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-17
Updated: 2014-11-17
Packaged: 2018-02-25 19:50:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2634107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starbooks13/pseuds/Starbooks13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Thor is a lot smarter and a lot better at comforting the Black Widow than most people would think.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Episode 2.13: Journey of the Iron Fist

                Word of the events in K’un-L’un spread quickly throughout the mystical circles of the cosmos.  Even Thor had heard of young Iron Fist’s victory-by-proxy at the hands of the Man of Spiders, despite having been realms away dealing with a civil war on Alfheim begun by Loki’s latest wave of chaos.  When he was at last given leave to return to Midgard, one of the first things he did—after seeing his Lady Jane, of course—was to inform Natasha.  “I am told he acquitted himself with humility and honor befitting a true K’un-L’un warrior,” he said as he held the punching bag firm against his shield-sister’s blows.  “Truly, even the mystic warrior caste of Alfheim was impressed, and they are not easily impressed.”

                “Good to know,” Natasha huffed, landing one final blow before nodding for him to release the bag.  She started unwrapping the protective strips from her hands while Thor fetched her water bottle from her bag against the wall.  “So, out of curiosity, would the victor of Return to Shao Lao be able to handle an Asgardian-trained sorcerer?”

                He sighed as he handed her the water.  “You are still concerned about Loki’s latest vow of revenge.”

                She took a long drink before responding.  “I can’t help it, Thor.  I’m getting better at having faith in Peter’s capabilities, but when it comes to threats like Loki and Doom that give even us trouble…” she trailed off with a shrug.

                “I understand your concern.  But Spider-Man has bested my brother thrice now.”

                “Which will only make Loki hate him more,” she pointed out.  “He hasn’t exactly been forgiving of all the times I’ve defeated him, and he respects me as an opponent.  He has no such respect for Peter.”

                “True.  But as you said yourself, by the time Loki decides to take his revenge our Man of Spiders may be ready to handle the challenge on his own, just as he handled the challenge of K’un-L’un.”  He set a hand on his comrade’s shoulder.  “Besides, when the time comes, he shall not face Loki alone.  He never has, and he never will.”  Natasha stilled for a moment, and then sighed deeply.  “Natasha? Is all well?”

                She looked up at him, and he was struck by the naked trepidation in her gaze.  His teammate was not one to show such an emotion so openly.  “Thor, I…have a confession to make.  The day you first met Spider-Man and the others…the attack on Asgard…I-”

                “Played a role in it,” he finished for her.

                Her lips parted in shock.  “How did you-?”

                “I know my brother’s schemes, my Lady Widow, and the Frost Giant’s appearance at the museum was too much of a coincidence to not have been planned.  I was surprised when I realized he truly had not intended for the children to be drawn into our conflict.  But then I recalled your fondness for Spider-Man and that you had never told us how you convinced Loki to rescue you from Doom’s castle.”  He grinned.  “That, and despite being a Frost Giant himself, Loki had not sought an alliance with them since he tried to use the Bifrost to annihilate them.  That itself was a clear indication that perhaps someone else had a hand in this scheme, someone not as familiar with Loki’s history with the Frost Giants.”

                “Someone like me.”  She shook her head.  “The universe vastly underestimates your intelligence, Thor.”  She frowned. “You’re not angry that I helped attack your homeworld?”

                “I was at first,” he admitted.  “It was only when I considered your possible motivation that I realized you never intended for the plan to succeed.  You were counting on Spider-Man and his team to help me stop Loki before he could do any great harm.  And in that, your plan succeeded brilliantly.”

                She sat down on a nearby bench and stared at her hands.  “I gambled an entire realm on a hunch, Thor.  I used all of you like guinea pigs in an experiment.  And now because of me Peter has one more enemy to deal with, someone he never would have crossed paths with if not for me.  Someone who never would have pursued his destruction so fervently if he hadn’t figured out that Peter was under my protection.”

                Thor sat next to her.  “Do you blame me, then, for making you Loki’s enemy?  For drawing him to Earth and insuring your first encounter?”

                Her head whirled to face him.  “Of course not!  He came to Earth for the Tessarect, not because of you.”

                “Yet he desired to subjugate Earth in part because it was under my protection, just as surely as you claim he seeks Spider-Man’s destruction in part because he is under your protection.  So if you wish to blame Loki’s enmity for Peter Parker upon your arranging their first encounter, then you must blame Loki’s enmity for you upon my arranging your first encounter through the acts that led to my banishment.”

                “I don’t blame you, Thor.  You don’t deserve that.”

                “Neither do you,” he countered.  “And so you should not blame yourself for how events played out beyond your control.”

                Natasha was silent for a long moment, simply staring at him.  Then she flung her arms around him, and it took Thor a moment to realize that the Black Widow was _hugging_ him.  “It’s true what they say,” she said softly.  “To err is human, to forgive divine.”

                He chuckled and gently hugged her back.  “I forgive because I am not perfect.  If not for the Man of Spiders, I and all of Asgard would have been destroyed that day due to my arrogance.  In a way, I owe you a debt, Natasha.”

                She pulled away, giving him a tiny, tentative smile that Thor could not help but return.  “Considering the situation, I don’t think you owe me at all.  If anything, I’m in your debt.”

                Thor pretended to seriously consider her words.  “Hm, well, in that case, I shall accept wergild in the form of Pop Tarts.  Hot Fudge flavored, if you please.”

                Natasha’s smile grew.  She rose and sketched him a curtsey.  “As you wish, my prince.”

                Thor laughed and waved her off as she departed to bathe.  He needed no wergild from the Black Widow—she had saved his life far more times than she had put him in danger, and she clearly regretted that any negative consequences had stemmed from her actions.  No, he blamed her not.  If anyone was truly to blame, it was he and Loki.  Both spiders had gotten caught up in their war, and Loki would crush them both beneath his heel.

                Not if Thor had a say in the matter.

**Author's Note:**

> Coming up with stuff to write for the episodes where we just get backstory on Peter's team is hard. I had wanted to include something about K'un-L'un in the last fic, but then Loki was his usual prima donna self and had to be the center of the entire story, so I figured I should probably have Thor be the POV character since I didn't really want to write about Dr. Strange again. But then I realized that Natasha hadn't ever told Thor about her having masterminded my verse's events of Episode 1.09 (Field Trip), and that maybe she wasn't as over what Loki said as I thought, and then all this angst happened. I don't know what it is, but Season 2 just seems to be the Season of Natasha's Angst.
> 
> I do promise a break from the Natasha angst next fic--but only because it's going to be about her helping Bruce deal with his angst. ;)


End file.
